Archive for the ‘Clovis New Mexico’ tag

Tom Watson of Clovis, New Mexico, asked our help in getting the word out to Hemmings Nation about the recent theft of two of his collector cars – a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 1967 Mercury Cougar GT.

Tom owns about half a dozen collector cars altogether, and to store them all, he rented out a storage unit on East Fifth Street in Clovis. Unfortunately, when he went to check on them recently, for the first time in about six months, he found that these two were missing. The Bel Air, a restored Matador Red two-door hardtop, he won in a raffle at the 1990 Clovis Music Festival; it runs a Power Pack-equipped 283-cu.in. V-8 with Powerglide automatic transmission, and Centerline wheels. It’s registered with New Mexico license plates – LHR101 – and has a VIN of VC575232105. The Cougar, a mostly original GT with one repaint in Gold Metallic and 60,000 miles, features a parchment vinyl roof, parchment bucket seats, 390-cu.in. V-8, automatic transmission, factory air conditioning, Tilt-a-Way steering wheel, and Cragar SS wheels. It didn’t have any license plates on it when in storage and has a VIN of 7F91S556301.

According to the police report Tom filed, any marks made in the dust when the cars were stolen had since been layered over in more dust, indicating the cars were stolen some time ago. Tom is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the return of the cars.

UPDATE: Tom told us this morning that, of the seven cars in the rented space, he believes the Cougar was taken because it was the closest to the door. Taking the Bel Air, which Tom considered the most valuable car there, required moving a couple other cars – a Continental Mark II and a Continental Mark V on flat tires – out of the way sideways. “They worked very hard to get that car out,” Tom said. “It’s very bizarre.”